Families for Excellent Schools has a 40-person staff, most of which is headquartered in an office near Wall Street, a stone’s throw away from charter network Success Academy’s corporate office. | AP Photo

Families for Excellent Schools planning to close following CEO's firing

The charter school advocacy group Families for Excellent Schools is set to close at least part of its 40-person operation following the firing of its CEO, Jeremiah Kittredge, POLITICO has learned from multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.

Kittredge was removed last week after an investigation into sexual harassment against a non-employee at a recent conference.

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It was not immediately clear when the current iteration of Families for Excellent Schools would close, or whether any employees will stay on and work on a rebranded organization. An internal spokesman for the group did not reply to requests for comment on Monday.

The group was once known as one of the loudest critics of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, staging large-scale protests against his education policies. It has netted tens of millions of dollars from the country’s most prominent philanthropic organizations, including the Walton Family Foundation and the Broad Foundation.

But the pro-charter group has seen its fortunes decline sharply over the last year. Its influence in New York has waned as de Blasio has largely declined to criticize charters and much of the local press turned its attention away from Families for Excellent Schools’ relentless schedule of rallies and press releases aimed at pressuring the mayor.

By 2016, the expensive rallies the group was best known for were no longer leading to policy wins at the city or state level, and the strategy was eventually abandoned.

And most crucially, the group suffered a disastrous political defeat in late 2016 from which it never fully recovered, sources say. After funnelling $20 million into a pro-charter ballot initiative in Massachusetts known as Question 2, the question was defeated at the polls by 25 points.

Several sources indicated its once-prolific fundraising became significantly more challenging in the aftermath of the Massachusetts loss.

Kittredge’s firing was announced by board member Bryan Lawrence last week, several hours after a POLITICO reporter first inquired about possible sexual misconduct allegations.

Families for Excellent Schools has a 40-person staff, most of which is headquartered in an office near Wall Street, a stone’s throw away from charter network Success Academy’s corporate office. Families for Excellent Schools has served as a lobbying arm for the powerful charter network.